Friday, May 17, 2019

Seventeen Years of an Ordinary, Lovely Life

This morning, like every morning, he rises and starts getting the little kids ready for the day. He picks out their clothes, helps them get dressed, makes their lunches, finds their shoes and then starts to work on himself. I get myself ready, prepare our lunches to take to work, and gather the elementary school kids in my car. He grabs the baby and the highschooler, drops off the baby and stops on the way to buy us coffee because we keep forgetting to add it to the grocery list.

He brings my coffee to my office, then meets me in the chapel for morning Mass. He holds my hand during the homily and lets me go in front of him to receive the Eucharist. He opens any door that gets in my way, and walks by my office during the day with a smile that still makes me weak in the knees. We eat lunch together with our coworkers as we go over the schedule of the day.

He works security after school to provide a little extra for our family as I go pick up the kids. We meet back at home and cook dinner before we take turns working out. He needs no direction to take care of the kids no matter what time I'm away from the house. We ebb and flow to the rhythm of family life, and as busy and difficult as it can be sometimes, it's never that bad with him as my partner.

He spends his evening helping the teens with their technology issues, changes the baby's diaper, works on reading skills with the preschooler, and reminds the rest to pick up after themselves because their mother is not their maid.

He tells me he'll bring the littles up to bed so I can work on the to-do list. He comes back down and washes the dishes. Later on, we walk the dog together and talk about all the details of the day that we don't want the other to have missed. We get ready for bed and he brings me some water and vitamins. He asks me what I want to watch as I predictably start to fall asleep and we say Good night, I love you. He makes sure the kids are all in bed, takes the dog out one more time, checks that the doors are locked, and then he falls asleep while rubbing my back.

It's just a ordinary day in my life with an extraordinary man I thank God for everyday...but most especially on our anniversary.

Happy 17 years, Phil, you're still the one.

"You are the finest, loveliest, tenderest, and most beautiful person that I have ever known - and even that is an understatement."~ F. Scott Fitzgerald

9 comments:

I just love this! Reminds me of my husband - we are only 5 years in - but man, how beautiful is the ordinary life! And what a gift that you two can attend Mass together at work. May God continue to bless your marriage and family for many, many more years!

Happy anniversary! I just love the "no directions to take care of the kids" thing. Other than sometimes a "I already gave this answer to this kid" kind of thing, I am also lucky to have a no directions Husband and I am so thankful for that as well. Wishing you and Phil a wonderful year of wedded bliss!

Tommorow is our 17 Th anniversary from the day we met, Pentecost Sunday in Innsbruck ! My husband also has his 7th anniversary for his deacon ordination ! And on July 10th is our 15th wedding anniversary ! I too am so blessed with an amazing husband, so selfless and wonderful. I pray that we are blessed with one more miracle baby. It is really hard having secondary infertility and our time seems to have run out. I am thankful everyday for my husaband and family. I love following you and Phil and your gorgeous family. Thank you Colleen! Also we are kindred spirits because we both met our husbands in Austria 🇦🇹